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CantoChat Supporting Cantonese learning with fun and games! Shop our calendar at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Cantochat

23/08/2026

The game 猜​包剪​揼🖐✌️👊 (caai1 baau1 zin2 dam1), or "rock, paper, scissors is common in many cultures worldwide. The Cantonese chant for rock, paper, scissors is "呈尋磨鉸叉燒包!" (cing4 cam4 mo4 gaau3 caa1 siu1 baau1) - It might sound a little random at first! A very literal interpretation is along the lines of "clip clip, grind the scissors, BBQ pork bun". But if you break the chant down, each part playfully corresponds to one of the three hand signs in the game.

This week's words:
呈尋 (cing4 cam4) = represents the scissors in the game, referring to the action of cutting or clipping
磨鉸 (mo4 gaau3) = represents the rock in the game, referring to the grinding or rubbing motion
叉燒包 (caa1 siu1 baau1) = represents the paper in the game, referring to a BBQ pork bun
猜​包剪​揼 (caai1 baau1 zin2 dam1) = To play rock, paper, scissors

Instead of just saying "rock, paper, scissors",🖐👊✌️ this is a fun and playful way to start the game.

「猜包剪揼」🖐👊✌️呢個遊戲，即係「石頭、剪刀、布」，喺世界各地好多唔同文化入面都好常見。

廣東話玩「猜包剪揼」🖐👊✌️嗰陣，有一句口訣係：「呈尋磨鉸叉燒包！」。初初聽落可能會覺得有啲無厘頭！如果好字面咁解，大概就係「咔咔，磨鉸剪，叉燒包」咁嘅意思。不過如果逐部分拆開嚟睇，就會發現口訣入面每一部分，其實都係用一種幾得意、又有趣嘅方式，對應遊戲入面三種唔同嘅手勢。

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: AtlasAudio from Pixabay

09/08/2026

Did you know that Cantonese has borrowed many English words through years of cultural exchange? These borrowed words are known as loan words~ words taken from one language and directly incorporated into another without translation. In Cantonese, they're often written using Chinese characters that matches the sound of the original English words as closely as possible.

A few fruit examples include lemon🍋, strawberry🍓 and mango🥭!

This week's words:
檸檬 (ning4 mung1) = Lemon🍋
士多啤梨 (si6 do1 be1 lei2) = Strawberry🍓
芒果 (mong1 gwo2) = Mango🥭

你知唔知廣東話喺經過多年嚟嘅文化交流，借用咗好多英文字？呢啲借詞又稱為外來詞～即係由一種語言借嚟直接融入另一種語言，而唔需要翻譯嘅字。
喺廣東話入面，呢啲外來詞好多時會用讀音同原本英文盡量相近嘅中文字嚟表示。

水果方面就有唔少例子，例如檸檬🍋、士多啤梨🍓同埋芒果🥭！

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: ajcreation789 from Pixabay

26/07/2026

Cantonese is full of interesting slang expressions. Here are two that are often used when drama unfolds around you. Although both phrases can be used for the literal sense, they are also commonly used in Cantonese slang to describe being a bystander to other people's drama.

This week's words:

🎬睇戲 (tai2 hei3) = literally means to "watch a movie" or "go to the cinema", but also used to express someone watching a situation unfold without getting involved or taking sides.🍿

🥜食​花生 (sik6 faa1 sang1) = literally means "to eat peanuts", used to express someone enjoying drama as an amused bystander.🍿

廣東話充滿住好多有趣嘅俚語。以下兩個詞語好常用，尤其係當你身邊有戲碼上演嗰陣。雖然佢哋都有字面意思，但喺日常廣東話入面，更多時係用嚟形容自己只係做旁觀者，睇住其他人嘅風波或者八卦發展。

🎬睇戲字面意思係「睇電影」或者「去戲院」。不過喺廣東話俚語入面，就係指睇住件事發展，但唔插手、唔表態，純粹做旁觀者。🍿

🥜食花生字面意思係「食花生」。喺廣東話俚語入面，就係形容一個人好有興致咁喺旁邊睇人哋嘅八卦或者風波，當娛樂咁欣賞。🍿

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: Viacheslav Starostin from Pixabay

12/07/2026

Let's explore some Cantonese ABB adjectives used to describe temperature🌡 and feelings🤔

☕️暖笠笠 (nyun5 nap1 nap1) is used to describe warmth, cosiness and comfort, like when you're all geared up for the cold day or enjoying a hot drink in the cold weather.

🧊涼浸浸 (loeng4 zam3 zam3) describes something cool, refreshing and slightly chilly, like sitting in front of the fan on a hot afternoon.

一齊嚟認識一啲用嚟形容溫度🌡同感覺嘅廣東話 ABB 形容詞啦！🤔

☕️暖笠笠係用嚟形容溫暖、舒服同有安全感嘅感覺，例如喺寒冷嘅日子著到夠晒暖，或者喺凍嘅天氣飲一杯熱飲，都可以話「暖笠笠」。

🧊涼浸浸就用嚟形容涼快、清爽，又帶少少涼意嘅感覺，例如炎熱嘅下午坐喺風扇前面，就會覺得「涼浸浸」。

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: Dmitrii Spis from Pixabay

#暖笠笠 #涼浸浸

28/06/2026

濕濕碎 (sap1 sap1 seoi3) and 碎濕濕 (seoi3 sap1 sap1) uses the same words, but they actually have very different meanings.

濕濕碎 (sap1 sap1 seoi3) literally translates to "wet wet broken" and it means something easy, simple or no big deal, similar to the phrase "a piece of cake" in English.🍰

On the other hand when the words are reversed, 碎濕濕 (seoi3 sap1 sap1) literally means "broken wet wet", it is used to describe something broken into small pieces, like a bowl of noodles🍜 that's been overcooked and fallen apart into tiny bits.

Just by changing the order of the words, the meaning changes completely!

「濕濕碎」同「碎濕濕」雖然用嘅都係同一組字，但意思其實完全唔同。

「濕濕碎」 係形容一件事好容易、好簡單、冇難度，類似英文嘅 "a piece of cake"。🍰

相反，「碎濕濕」 就係將個詞語倒轉咗，用嚟形容一樣嘢散晒、爛晒，碎成一粒粒。例如一碗麵🍜煮得太耐，啲麵爛到散晒，就可以話佢 「碎濕濕」。

同一組字，只係調轉次序，意思就可以完全唔一樣！

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: Mykola Sosin from Pixabay

19/06/2026

Wishing you all a Happy Dragon Boat Festival 端午節快樂 (dyun1 ng5 zit3 faai3 lok6)!🐲🐉

Every year during this festival, we celebrate by making and sharing rice dumplings. There are many beloved varieties rice dumplings from the savoury salted pork dumpling 鹹肉糉 (haam4 juk6 zung2)🥩 to the lightly sweet and chewy alkaline rice dumpling 鹼水糉 (gaan2 seoi2 zung2) and the rich and flavourful Jinhua Ham rice dumpling 金華火腿糉 (gam1 waa4 fo2 teoi2 zung2)🍖, each one reflects a unique taste of this tradition.😋

Which one is your favourite? Let us know in the comments!

祝大家端午節快樂！端午節快樂！🐲🐉

每年到咗端午節，我哋都會做同分享糉子嚟慶祝。糉子款式多不勝數，由經典鹹香嘅鹹肉糉🥩，到口感煙韌、帶淡淡甜味嘅鹼水糉，再到味道濃郁、充滿風味嘅金華火腿糉🍖，每一款都承載住呢個傳統節日嘅獨特滋味。😋

你最鍾意食邊一款糉呢？歡迎喺留言區話我哋知！

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: Dmitrii Kolesnikov from Pixabay

#鹹肉糉 #鹼水糉 #金華火腿糉

14/06/2026

Did you know the Cantonese slang 一​個​骨 (jat1 go3 gwat1) has nothing to do with bones?🦴🦴🦴

It actually comes from the English phrase "a quarter". Over time the sound evolved into the Cantonese word 骨 (gwat1).🦴

一​個​骨 (jat1 go3 gwat1) literally translates to "one piece of bone" and it means a quarter, so you can use it in time for example it can refer to 15 minutes--a quarter of an hour.🕒
And 三​個​骨褲 ​​​(saam1 go3 gwat1 fu3)👖 literally means "three quarter length trousers" also known as cropped trousers.

This week's words:
🦴一​個​骨 (jat1 go3 gwat1) = a quarter e.g a quarter of an hour
​👖三​個​骨褲 (saam1 go3 gwat1 fu3) = three quarter length trousers

你知唔知廣東話俚語「一個骨」（jat1 go3 gwat1）其實同骨頭完全冇關？🦴🦴🦴

佢其實係源自英文 “a quarter”。隨住時間演變，個讀音慢慢變成咗廣東話嘅「骨」。🦴

「一個骨」字面意思係「一塊骨頭」，但實際上係指「四分之一」。所以喺講時間嗰陣都會用到，例如可以指15分鐘🕒~即係一個鐘嘅四分之一。

而「三個骨褲」👖字面意思就係「三個骨長度嘅褲」，其實即係「七分褲」。

Artwork & Amination: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music:

#一​個​骨 #三​個​骨褲

01/06/2026

Did you know some foods are named directly named after their appearance or texture in Cantonese? Such as​ Avocado and​ Pistachio.

Avocado 牛油果🥑(ngau4 jau4 gwo2) literally translates to "butter fruit" and the name come from its rich, smooth, buttery texture. The Cantonese name is directly named due to it's texture.

Pistachio 開心果😁(hoi1 sam1 gwo2) literally means "happy fruit" or "happy nut". As the shell naturally opens when it's ripe, almost like it's smiling, this led to its associated with joy and positivity.

In Cantonese, calling someone a 開​心果 (hoi1 sam1 gwo2) is actually a compliment, as it describes someone who bring laughter and happiness to the people around them.😊

你知唔知有啲食物喺廣東話入面嘅名稱，係直接根據佢哋嘅外形或者口感嚟命名㗎？例如牛油果同開心果。

🥑牛油果嘅口感濃郁、幼滑，而且帶有牛油般嘅質感，所以廣東話名稱就直接反映咗佢嘅口感特色。

😁由於開心果成熟時，果殼會自然裂開，好似露出笑容咁，因此令人聯想到快樂同正能量，所以有咗呢個名字。

喺廣東話入面，如果形容一個人係「開心果」，其實係一種讚美。因為「開心果」用嚟形容一個經常為身邊人帶來歡樂同笑聲、令人感到開心嘅人。😊

Artwork & Animation: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: Nikita Kondrashev from Pixabay

# #開​心果 #牛​油果

17/05/2026

Ever heard of someone saying 大鑊 (daai6 wok6) in Cantonese?
It literally means "big wok" but can also be used to mean big trouble or a tricky situation.

😲😱爆大鑊 (baau3 daai6 wok6) literally means "explode a big wok", it refers to the reveal of a big secret, often something negative or scandalous.

🗣🤯炒​​大鑊 (caau2 daai6 wok6) literally translates to "stir-fry big wok" and it's commonly used to describe intense conflict or arguments between people.

This week's words:
😱爆大鑊 (baau3 daai6 wok6) = 'explored big wok', also means the reveal of a big secret.
🗣炒​​大鑊 (caau2 daai6 wok6) = 'stir-fry big wok', to describe intense conflict between people.

你有冇聽過有人用廣東話講「大鑊」呢？

「大鑊」字面意思係「大隻嘅鑊」，但其實都可以用嚟形容「大件事」、「大麻煩」或者好棘手嘅情況。

😲😱「爆大鑊」通常用嚟形容一個重大秘密被揭發，尤其係負面或者醜聞性質嘅事。

🗣🤯「炒大鑊」通常用嚟形容人與人之間好激烈嘅衝突或者爭吵。

Artwork & Animation: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: Viacheslav Starostin from Pixabay

#大鑊 #爆大鑊 #炒​​大鑊

03/05/2026

As the weather is getting warmer, it's the perfect time to head to the park and enjoy some outdoor fun! What is your family's favourite playground equipment? 🛝🌳🚴🏻‍♀️

This week's words:
滑梯 = Slide
韆鞦 = Swing
搖搖板 = Seesaw

隨住天氣越嚟越暖，正係去公園享受戶外樂趣嘅最佳時機！你哋最鍾意嘅遊樂場設施係咩呢？🛝🌳🚴🏻‍♀️

Artwork & Animation: Lillian Ip-Koon
Voice: Lillian Ip-Koon
Music: FASSounds from Pixabay

#滑梯 #韆鞦 #搖搖板

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